After filibuster, Senate confirms Brennan for CIA WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed John Brennan to be CIA director Thursday after the Obama administration bowed to demands from Republicans blocking the nomination and stated explicitly there are limits on the president’s power to use drones against U.S. terror suspects on American soil. The vote was 63-34 and came just hours after Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, held the floor past midnight ...

Illinois deal on fracking could be national model CHICAGO (AP) — After years of clashing over the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” the oil industry and environmentalists have achieved something extraordinary in Illinois: They sat down together to draft regulations both sides could live with. If approved by lawmakers, participants say, the rules would be the nation’s strictest. The Illinois model might also offer a template to other states seeking to carve out a mi...

Senate panel casts year’s first votes on gun curbs WASHINGTON (AP) — In Congress’ first gun votes since the Newtown, Conn., nightmare, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to toughen federal penalties against illegal firearms purchases, even as senators signaled that a deep partisan divide remained over gun curbs. The Democratic-led panel voted 11-7 to impose penalties of up to 25 years for people who legally buy firearms but give them to someone else for use in a crime or to people l...

Lion killed intern as she was cleaning enclosure DUNLAP, Calif. (AP) — Authorities said Thursday they believe a lion killed a 24-year-old volunteer at a Central California animal park after it escaped from a feeding cage and attacked her while she was cleaning its larger enclosure area. Fresno County Coroner David Hadden said Dianna Hanson died instantly when the 550-pound lion broke her neck, apparently with a swipe of a paw. Investigators believe the 5-year-old male African lion used a paw...

Obama signs expanded Violence Against Women Act WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed expanded protections for domestic violence victims into law Thursday, renewing a measure credited with curbing attacks against women a year and a half after it lapsed amid partisan bickering. The revitalized Violence Against Women Act also marked an important win for gay rights advocates and Native Americans, who will see new protections under the law, and for Obama, whose attempts to push for a ...

Chavez’s try to be savior of poor floundered in US NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send thousands of soldiers, firefighters and volunteers to help with the cleanup. He also pledged $1 million in aid plus fuel to help rebuild hard-hit cities like New Orleans. The offer, swiftly rejected, was part of a larger pattern: Chavez’s repeated attempts to provide humanitarian relief to low-income and distressed U.S. families. Despite ...

Facebook brings a more personal touch to News FeedMENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook has redesigned the main attraction of its social network to address complaints that its website has turned into a jumble of monotonous musings and random photos. In an attempt to breathe new life into Facebook's News Feed, the company will introduce new controls that allow people to sort streams of photos and other material into organized sections. With the makeover unveiled Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zucker...

10 Things to Know for Thursday, March 7, 2013Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. NORTH KOREA THREATENS NUCLEAR STRIKE AGAINST U.S. Pyongyang vowed the attack hours before the UN was to consider new sanctions for its recent nuclear test. 2. HOW LONG THE BRENNAN FILIBUSTER LASTED Rand Paul spent nearly 13 hours on the Senate floor to block a vote on Obama's choice for CIA director. 3. CHAVEZ' LAST WORDS "I don't want to...

Storm strikes Mid-Atlantic; 250K lose power WASHINGTON (AP) — A winter storm marched into the Mid-Atlantic region Wednesday, dumping nearly two feet of snow in some places and knocking out power to about 250,000 homes and businesses. It largely spared the nation’s capital, which was expecting much worse and had all but shut down. Officials in Washington didn’t want a repeat of 2011, when a rush-hour snowstorm stranded commuters for hours, so they told people to stay off the roads and ga...

People, pooches team up to fight flab at Ill. gym CHICAGO (AP) — Can’t get rid of that paunch? A Chicago-area gym suggests working out with your pooch. K9 Fit Club offers bow wow boot camps and other classes for people and their puppies to exercise together in Chicago and nearby Hinsdale, Ill. The fitness center opened last year after founder Tricia Montgomery exercised with her dog and lost 130 pounds. Montgomery said her late basset hound, named Louie, lost 22 percent of his body weight. Fa...

Man held without bail in NY couple’s deadly crash NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected of fleeing the scene of a grisly New York crash that killed a pregnant woman and her husband was arrested at a Pennsylvania convenience store on Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender, and he was ordered held without bail. Julio Acevedo walked to officers waiting in cars in the parking lot in Bethlehem, Pa., and was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, New York Police Department spok...

Volunteer killed by lion at Calif. animal park DUNLAP, Calif. (AP) — A lion killed a volunteer intern at an exotic animal park in Central California after she entered its enclosure, and authorities were trying to determine what might have provoked the animal to maul her. Cat Haven founder and executive director Dale Anderson was crying as he read a one-sentence statement about the fatal mauling at the private zoo he has operated since 1993. The 26-year-old intern was attacked and killed wh...

Eating out: Obama’s new overtures to GOP lawmakers WASHINGTON (AP) — Shifting course in the face of political gridlock, President Barack Obama is making rare overtures to rank-and-file Republicans, inviting GOP senators to dinner Wednesday, planning visits to Capitol Hill and working the phones with lawmakers. Obama’s efforts are aimed at jumpstarting budget talks and rallying support for his proposals on immigration and gun control. The president’s new charm offensive underscores the limitati...

Senator launches lengthy debate to block CIA pick WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican critic of the Obama administration’s drone policy mounted a self-described filibuster Wednesday to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan to take over as director of the CIA. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took the floor shortly before noon. With intermittent support from other conservatives holding similar views, plus Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Paul spoke almost continuously for five hours before Majority L...

Schools shift from textbooks to tablets WASHINGTON (AP) — Well before the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy was in full swing, students could read about the weather system that slammed the East Coast in their textbooks. Welcome to the new digital bookcase, where traditional ink-and-paper textbooks have given way to iPads and book bags are getting lighter. Publishers update students’ books almost instantly with the latest events or research. Schools are increasingly looking to the hand-h...

Cops: No charges after home’s refusal to give CPR BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Police said Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed after a care worker’s attention-grabbing refusal to perform CPR on a resident of a Central California independent-living facility. The Bakersfield Police Department said it has closed its investigation into the death of Lorainne Bayless, 87, who died Feb. 26 at Glendale Gardens while a nurse there refused a 911 dispatcher’s pleas to administer CPR. The publ...

Too much money spent in Iraq for too few results WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten years and $60 billion in American taxpayer funds later, Iraq is still so unstable and broken that even its leaders question whether U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation were worth the cost. In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few re...

DC region faces unique challenges from budget cuts ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — To get a sense of just how much federal government spending influences the Washington metropolitan area, all you have to do is listen to the ads on an all-news radio station there. Instead of promoting happy hours and nightclubs, WTOP’s commercials are replete with buzzwords about cloud computing and fulfilling mission statements — pitches by IT consultants and contractors trying to land business with federal agencies. An...

House votes to prevent March 27 federal shutdown WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans pushed legislation through the House on Wednesday to prevent a government shutdown this month while easing the short-term impact of $85 billion in spending cuts — at the same time previewing a longer-term plan to erase federal deficits without raising taxes. President Barack Obama pursued a different path as the GOP asserted its budget priorities. He arranged to have dinner with several Republican senators at a ho...

Scientists focus on another Sandy loss — lab mice NEW YORK (AP) — It was one of the most dramatic stories from Superstorm Sandy: more than 300 patients including tiny babies safely removed from a flooded New York hospital that lost power. But in a research building at the complex, where thousands of lab mice were kept, the story had a sadder ending. A storm surge into the basement swamped some 7,000 cages of mice used for studying cancer, diabetes, brain development and other health issues. E...